Jacob Tierney stories, Page 33

Patty Wolfe was browsing Facebook when she saw a friend’s warning: Check your E-ZPass statement for higher-than-usual toll fees for trips on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Wolfe heeded the advice. “The very first statement I looked at showed me getting on at Irwin, for $10, and me getting off in Monroeville,”...

Penn Township environmental group Protect PT will hold a pollution monitoring workshop at its offices May 16. The workshop will cover ways residents can monitor air quality and noise levels around their home. The organization will introduce new air particulate monitors it purchased from the company PurpleAir. Protect PT began...

University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg will host its 23rd annual Children’s Literature Conference Friday, inviting librarians and educators to spend a day learning more about what gets kids reading. There are two featured speakers this year. Ellen Oh will kick off the conference at 8:30 a.m. Friday. She’s the co-founder...

State police and local law enforcement on Wednesday morning conducted an active shooter drill at Idlewild Park in Ligonier Township, according to Westmoreland County 911. Emergency radio reports of a shooter and child abduction at the park were all related to the drill, dispatchers said. The theme park is closed....

Rising temperatures are heralding the return of the 17-year cicadas. The insects have been waiting underground for nearly two decades, but are expected to emerge by the millions this month. It takes several days of sustained warm weather, with temperatures consistently above 60 degrees, for cicadas to come out of...

It’s only a matter of time before competitive video games are bigger than football, according to Matt Roche, corporate and strategic partnerships manager for the Pittsburgh Knights esports organization. “In terms of viewership alone, we’re on track to surpass the NFL in the next couple years,” he said. The 2018...

The Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association has come out against legal recreational marijuana, though it does support decriminalizing possession of small amounts of the drug. Association leaders shared their views with lawmakers at a meeting of the state Senate and House Democratic Policy Committee. “Recreational marijuana is not safe or harmless,”...

Girls in preschool can now join the Girl Scouts as part of a new extended registration program allowing enrollment at a younger age. Any girl entering kindergarten this fall is eligible to take part in the new Daisy Launch initiative. A $35 membership will last until Sept. 30, 2020. When...

Adelphoi will celebrate existing programs and new facilities at its second annual Showcase of Stars event at its main campus in Latrobe May 16. The organization houses and provides other services for at-risk youth. This year’s event will highlight the Adelphoi Promise program, which helps place Adelphoi alumni into community...

The Washington County Coroner has identified the 15-year-old boy killed in a crash on I-70 Thursday night. Robert Gracey, of Wheeling, W. Va., was a passenger in a vehicle travelling west in North Franklin Township around 11:30 p.m. The vehicle hit a tractor-trailer, lost control and flipped over, according to...

A woman kidnapped a baby from a Homewood home Wednesday night, according to court paperwork filed by Pittsburgh police. Police quickly found the 1-year-old girl and arrested the accused kidnapper, Nayshell Sly, 27, of Pittsburgh. The abduction was reported around 8 p.m. Thursday. A babysitter told police that Sly had...

Democrat Joe Biden will kick off his campaign for president in the Pittsburgh area Monday. The former vice president announced his candidacy Thursday morning, after months of hints and “will he or won’t he” speculation. His first campaign event will be at the Teamsters Local 249 banquet hall in Lawrenceville,...

An Ohio boy has admitted to posting online threats that prompted the closure of Keystone Oaks School District, according to the Mt. Lebanon Police Department. Three threats were posted to the district’s Instagram account Wednesday, police said. Investigators from Mt. Lebanon Police Department with assistance from FBI’s Cleveland field office...

Pittsburgh police are investigating the reported assault of a Lyft driver in Shadyside. The driver told police he was transporting a man and two women around 2 a.m. Sunday. The man started arguing with the driver, accusing him of taking a longer route to their destination and ordering the driver...

No one was hurt when a security guard shot at a suspect who brought a gun into a bar in Pittsburgh’s Hill District early Tuesday morning, according to city public safety officials. The security guard was working at Tim’s Bar on Wylie Avenue when he spotted a man with a...

Police have arrested a man who allegedly spent weeks hiding out in his ex-girlfriend’s attic in Pittsburgh’s Brighton Heights neighborhood. The woman discovered Cary Cocuzzi, 31, in her bedroom Saturday, according to an affidavit filed against him. She had a protection from abuse order against Cocuzzi and told police he...

The Beaver County Coroner’s Office has identified the four people who were killed in a two-car crash Sunday night. Denise Feathers, 41, of Baden, was driving a Jeep south in the northbound lane of Route 65 in Baden when she struck another vehicle just before 11 p.m. Sunday, according to...

Crews are working to repair a water main break on Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Strip District Monday morning, according to Tribune-Review News Partner WPXI. Water started rushing down the road just before 6 a.m. Crews were able to shut off the water within about 30 minutes. The break happened near...

The farmers market is coming back to downtown Greensburg. “We always wanted to go back to Greensburg,” said Paul Sarver, head of the Central Westmoreland Farmer’s Market Association. “The downtown, the merchants and the customers always appreciated us.” For the last few summers, the market has been held twice a...

Mary Wilmes can look out the window of Penelope’s, her gift shop in downtown Greensburg, and see a construction crew hard at work across the street. Another is working a few doors down, and two more projects are happening about a block away. “It hasn’t been this interesting in town...

Constance “Connie” Vaskov brought her passion for art wherever she went. “She just loved to make every place she went look a little bit more beautiful,” said her daughter, Victoria Sheridan. “She couldn’t help herself.” Mrs. Vaskov would make ceramics and other artsy gifts for her friends. She’d help decorate...